Telegraph-transmitter.



J. G. BARCLAY;

TELEGRAPH TRANSMITTER.

APPLICATION FILED Mn. 22. 1909.

976,537. Patented Nov. 22, 1910.

5 BHEETEFBHEET 1.

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APPLIOATIOH rum) 1. .3.22, 1909.

Patented Nov. 22, 1910.

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J. G. BARCLAY.

TELEGRAPH TRANSMITTER.

APPLICATION rum) nun. 22, 1909.

Patented N0v.22, 1910.

6 EHEBTS-SKEET 4.

J. G. BARCLAY.

TELEGRAPH TRANSMITTER.

APPLIOATION FILED IAB.22, 1909. 976,537. Patented Nov. 22, 1910.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

JOHN C. BARCLAY, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

TELEGRAPH-TRANSMITTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 22, 1910.

Application filed March 22, 1909. Serial No. 484,976.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. BARCLAY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hontolair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telegraph-Transmitters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in keyboard telegraph transmitters,and particularly to transmitters adapted for use in synchronoustelegraph systems, such, for example, as ticker systems, and comprises,in combination with a rotary drum and a keyboard the several keys ofwhich are each adapted to arrest said drum in a position difierent fromthat in which said drum may be arrested by any other of said keys, ofimproved means for operating a line circuit; also in an improvedarrangement of the parts, and various other features hereinafterdescribed and particularly pointed out'in the appended claims.

The object of my invention is to improve the construction of telegraphtransmitters, and particularly of transmitters of the type referred to,and to make the transmitter simple, relatively inexpensive, durable,rapid, and easy to operate.

I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which one construction of transmitterembodying my invention is illustrated, and will then point out the novelfeatures in claims.

In said drawings: Figure 1 shows a front elevation of the transmitter;Fig. 2 shows a side elevation and partial section of the transmitter;Fig. 3 shows a top view and partial section of the transmitter, aportion of the top frame bar being broken away and parts of thetransmitter being shown in section; Fig. 4 shows a detail side view andpartial section of the drum, finger keys, and associated parts; Fig. 5shows an elevation, from the rear of the machine, of the speedregulatingmechanism of the transmitter; Fig. 6 shows a longitudinal section of thefriction driving device of the drum, and associated parts; Fig. 7 showsa detail front view and partial section of the adjustable contact-stopcarrier and associated parts, and Fig. 8 shows a side elevation of thesame parts and of the vibrator, looking from the right-hand side of themachine.

In the drawings, 1 designates a suitable frame, and 2 a drum mountedupon a shaft 3, itself mounted in suitable hearings in frame l.

4 designates a driving motor (an electric motor, in the instance shown)arranged to drive drum 2 through suitable reducing gearing, and througha friction driving device, 5. Said reducing gearing comprises, in theinstance shown, spiral gears 6 and 7, a countershaft 8,- spiral gears 9and 10, another shaft 11, and a pinion l2 thereon in mesh with the gear13 of the friction driving device 5. Said friction driving devicecomprises (see Fig. 6) two disks, 14 and 15, on opposite sides of gear13, a spiral spring 16 tending to press said disks against said gear,and a pin 17 carried by disk 15 and arranged to slide through a collar48 fast on shaft 3; said pin constituting the equivalent of a key toconnect disk 15 with shaft 3. Disks 14 and 15 have wearing faces ofsuitable friction material, 18. It will be clear that as gear 13 isrotated, drum 2 will be rotated by friction of said gear against disks14 and 15, motion being transmitted through shaft 3 to drum 2.

In front of drum 2 is a keyboard comprising a plurality of finger keys19 (which in practice customarily bear designations.corresponding to thevarious characters to be transmitted) mounted on suitable pivotedkey-levers 20 provided with suitable springs 21 which normally hold saidkeys elevated. These key-levers 20 are provided with bellcrankextensions, 22, adapted, when one of said key-levers is depressed, tomove into the path of a corresponding one of a series of pins, 23,projecting radially from the surface of drum 2. It will be clear thatwhen one of the finger keys is depressed, and held down, itscorresponding bell-crank extension, 22, will engage the correspondingdrum-pin 23 when, in the rotation of said drum, such pin reaches saidbell-crank extension, and that thereby the drum will be arrested; gear13 nevertheless continuing to revolve.

As shown particularly in Fig. i, the pins 23 are short studs screwedinto corresponding holes in the drum and stepped so as to provide a flatsurface 24 for engagement with the corresponding key lever, the rearside of the projecting portion of each pin being rounded so as to clearthe corresponding key lever quickly as soon as said key lever iswithdrawn out of the path of such pin and drum 2 is permitted to beginrotatlon again.

Most former transmitters of this type have had an exaggerated legatotouch, it being necessary for the operator, after depressing one key, tohold it down until that key has arrested the drum. This extreme legatotouch is somewhat ditficult to learn, and it is desirable that themachine shall have a touch corresponding closely to the touch of anordinary typewriter. To this end I have provided automatic means forholding down each key-lever when depressed, until the drum 2 has beenarrested. Such automatic means comprises a latch, 25, for each keylever,mounted on the bell-crank extension 22 thereof; a spring 26 for eachlatch, tending to draw the latch into the position shown in Fig. 4; anda single transverse bar, 27 which, when the finger keys are all up, e11-gages all of the latchess and holds them in the position shown in Fig.2. WVhen one of the finger keys is depressed, as its bellcrank extension22 moves forward it draws the corresponding latch 25 away from thetransverse bar 27 the spring 26 then drawing said latch into theposition shown in Fig. 4, in which position the latch, by engagementwith the front of transverse bar 27, prevents rise of the finger key.The front end of the latch is arranged to be engaged by thecorresponding drum-pin 23 before said pin encounters the extension 22 ofthe corresponding key-lever; and when said pin 23 does engage the latch25, it depresses its front end, lifting the rear end of the latch clearof the transverse bar 27, and so permitting the finger key to rise. Thebrief pause in the rotation of drum 2, produced by momentary engagementof the drum-pin 23 with latch 25 and extension 22 is sufiicient,however, to produce the slight prolongation of pulse required to beproduced by this class of transmitters.

Rotation of drum 2 causes the operation of current-reversing meanswhereby as the drum rotates reversals of current in a line circuit areproduced continuously. To this end, a pivoted vibrator, 28, is provided,one end of this vibrator carrying an anti-friction roller, 29, arrangedto be actuated by a toothed wheel 30 secured to one end of drum 2 androtating therewith. The other end of this vibrator 28, which is aflexible spring 31, works between contact screws 32 and 33, carried by abracket 34, mounted to slide longitudinally along the frame of themachine. For adjusting this bracket and its contact screws, withreference to the vibrator, I provide an eccentric 35, working within anorifice 36 in said bracket, said eccentric being arranged to be rotatedby means of a milled head 37 and to guide said bracket, and also toclamp it in place, when once adjusted I provide a pin 38, working withina slot 39, and a clamping and guide screw 40, working in a slot 41. Thecontact screws 32 and 33 are also independently adjustable, and areinsulated from the bracket and so from each other.

Owing to the curved form of the teeth of wheel 30, and also owing to thefact that part of the vibrator is a flexible spring 31, during theoperation of the machine contact continues between the vibrator and thecontact screws for a relatively long time, as compared with ordinarypole-changers of the walking-beam type, which is desirable, as therebylonger intervals are provided for the rise of line potential and for theoperation of the mechanism of the telegraph printers which transmitterssuch as herein described are intended to control. The duration of theinterval during which contact continues may be adjusted by varying thedistance between the screws 32 and 33. By adjusting the position of thebracket 34, vertically, the period of contact of one screw with thevibrator may be prolonged, with reference to the period of contact ofthe other screw with the vibrator; line conditions frequently renderingthis adjustment desirable.

For controlling the speed of rotation of the drum 2 I provide a fly-ballgovernor, 42, on the armature shaft of the motor 4, controlling thecontact lever 43, carrying a contact screw 44 adapted to make contactwith a spring-pressed contact screw 45; the power circuit of the motorpassing through these contact screws 44 and 45. \Vhen the desiredmaximum speed is exceeded, the governor retracts lever 43 so that screw44 no longer makes contact with screw 45, so breaking the circuit of themotor so far as said screws are concerned; and as soon as the speed ofthe motor has dropped sufficiently, the governor causes said screws tocontact again, so completing the circuit of the motor. In this way thespeed of the motor may be regulated within close limits. The speed to bemaintained may be varied at will by regulating the screws 44 and 45. Aresistance coil 46 is shunted across screws 44 and 45, to reducesparking at these screws and to render the operation of the motor moreeven; the efiect of the resistance on the motor being, that when thescrews 44 and 45 are separated, the motor circuit is not broken, but theresistance in said circuit is greatly increased, for which reason thespeed of the motor will decrease.

In use, the transmitter is operated much the same as an ordinarytypewriter. One of the keys, 47, is a space key, this key, like all ofthe others, being arranged to arrest the drum 2 at a particularposition.

WVhat I claim is 1. A telegraph transmitter comprising in combination arotary member, means for arresting same in different angular positions,and contact means operated thereby comprising a vibrator including aresilient member and contacts between which said vibrator moves, saidrotary member comprising teeth adapted to cause vibration of saidvibrator, a carrier for said contacts, and means for adjusting saidcarrier in the direction of motion of said vibrator comprising guidesfor said carrier and an eccentric engaging the carrier.

2. A telegraph transmitter comprising in combination a rotary memberprovided with a plurality of projecting studs occupying diiferent pathsof rotation, and distributed angularly, said studs consisting of plugsscrewed into said member, the external portions of said plugs beingstepped on one side and beveled on the other, means for driving saidmember, finger keys and means operated thereby arranged to engage saidprojections to arrest said member, and circuit controlling meansoperated by said member.

3. A telegraph transmitter comprising in combination a rotary member,means for driving the same, circuit controlling means operated by saidmember, finger keys and means operated thereby, comprising means forholding down a finger key which has been depressed, comprising aspring-actu ated trip for each such key, and stationary means with whichsuch trips contact when their corresponding keys are depressed, saidtrips arranged by such contact to hold their keys depressed, said rotarymember pro vided with means adapted to engage and release said trips andthe finger keys controlled thereby.

4. A telegraph transmitter comprising in combination a rotary memberprovided with a plurality of projections occupying different paths ofrotation and distributed angularly, means for driving said member,circuit controlling means operated by said member, finger keys and meansoperated thereby arranged to engage said projections to arrest saidmember, trips operated by said finger keys, and stationary means withwhich such trips may engage when their corresponding keys are depressed,to hold such keys depressed, said trips when so holding their keys beingin the paths of projections of said rotary member, and being arranged tobe released by the action of such projections.

5. A telegraph transmitter comprising in combination a rotary memberprovided with a plurality of projections occupying different paths ofrotation and distributed angularly, means for driving said member,circuit controlling means operated by said member, finger keys,bell-crank key levers operated thereby, the ends of said bell cranksarranged to engage said projections to arrest said rotary member,spring-actuated trips pivoted to said bell-crank levers, a stationarymember upon which said trips normally rest, each trip being arranged tomove into engagement with said stationary member when its correspondingkey lever is depressed, and when so moved to be in position to beactuated to release its corresponding key lever by a projection of saidrotary member.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN C. BARCLAY.

Witnesses H. M. MARBLE, T. E. BARTON.

